Mayo priest reveals clerical changes bring difficult times

August 2023 has been a difficult, even sad, time for 11 priests in the Archdiocese of Tuam, who have been switched to new parishes.

In recent weeks, the transient clergymen packed their belongings, said goodbye to their congregations, and packed their belongings for pastoral pastures new.

But what’s the arbitrary relocation process like for the clerics and communities who are involved?

In an article entitled ‘Moving Time’, in the Newport/Burrishoole Parish Newsletter, Fr. Tod Nolan, local parish priest, has provided a valuable insight.

(Fr. Tod, by the way, has not been affected by the latest clerical changes but, of course, has experience of the process).

He wrote: “The relationship between a priest and the people he serves is in many ways unique. A bond is formed which is deep and mutual.

“In as much as the community is his care, he is very much cared for by the community. The community grows attached to their priest and his particular idiosyncrasies as much as the priest becomes part of the community.

“While (clerical changes) is a particularly unsettling, and even a sad time for the priests involved, it is also a big change for a parish community who have come to know and love ‘our priest’.

“The practice of moving priests from one parish to another helps ensure that various parish communities can benefit from the particular talents (and oddities) of the priest involved.

“The practice also involves priests with an opportunity to grow as ministers by gaining wider experience in different ministry contexts.

“But leaving one parish for another is a reminder too that priesthood is never about the priest but is always in the service of the people of God.

“Moving is never easy. When a priest moves he leaves behind the individuals and the community which he came to know over the years he has come to know and love.

“Through his ministry, he has formed intimate relationships with the sick and the bereaved, he has been part of pivotal family moments of celebration and despair, and from baptism to First Communion, from Confirmation to Mass serving, he has been part of the lives of the local children.

“And now he must start again. It’s a difficult time for both the priest and the community,” he added.